


The More Things Change...

by TheOtherOdinson



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Blood and Gore, Bondage, Gen, Humor, Hurt Loki, Loki gets tied up a lot, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Canon, Referenced Suicide Attempt, Violence, it's canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2018-12-12 14:12:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11738697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOtherOdinson/pseuds/TheOtherOdinson
Summary: Loki ends up in restraints a lot. This isn't a new thing.





	1. Volstagg

**Author's Note:**

> This is a 5 times plus 1 piece. With each new part added, the tags will be updated to reflect its contents and characters. Enjoy!

Volstagg bulled his way through the narrow passage leading to the dimly lit opening ahead, axe gripped firmly against his body. The edges of rock pulled at him, scraping at his armoured arms and catching at the hair atop his head, but he didn't slow until he made it through the passage and into the cavern. He pulled his charge to a halt when he spied no enemies within for him to fight. The cavern held only one other soul - Loki.

The king's second son was slumped in a corner on the ground and tightly bound from shoulder to ankle. Loki was conscious, eyes fastened on the entrance Volstagg had just come through. Defiance radiated from every inch of his body, but there was fear present in his eyes too that didn't fade until Volstagg crossed the small chamber to kneel at his side.

"Peace, my young friend," Volstagg reassured him with a firm pat on his shoulder, though he was unsure Loki could feel it through the thick ropes wrapped around him. "We'll have you out of here in no time at all."

"Where's Thor?" Loki mumbled, almost slurring the words. A far cry from his usual sharp and precise tongue.

Volstagg took a harder look. Loki's eyes looked back at him, glassy and unfocused. Volstagg checked him over, quickly locating a sizable lump on the back of his skull that made Loki yelp and flinch away the moment he touched it.

"Oh, he's - " The cavern walls trembled as a bellow of thunder rolled through the narrow passageway, " - securing  our exit," he finished smoothly. "He's none too pleased, you know. Apparently he finds it offensive that anyone dares to lay hands on his little brother. "

Volstagg laughed a little, but Loki looked stricken. Volstagg tried to reassure with another hand on his rope encased arm. He thought to cup the side of Loki's neck as was Thor's custom, but decided Loki would be unlikely to welcome such familiarity from one of his older brother's friends. Instead, he gave Loki's cheek a few firm pats until the prince's eyes focused a little sharper.

"Fear not," Volstagg said. "By the time Thor is finished out there with his storms, I think these creatures will have a new god to worship."

Volstagg leaned closer to examine the ropes, seeking a way to undo the Loki's bonds without having to take his axe too near his skin. He would not like to have to explain wounds on the young prince Volstagg himself caused to Odin. Or to Frigga for that matter.

As it was, the Allfather was unlikely to be pleased with his sons' misadventure. This was the third time Loki had joined Thor and the Warriors Three on one of their quests since he came of age. Loki had only recently passed his coming of age trials, doing so with ease and proving himself before Asgard both a man and a warrior. There had been no one more delighted at this than Thor.

"My friends!" Thor had announced at their table at the feast that followed honouring Loki, his arm slung around his younger brother's shoulders. "From now on we will have to seek greater adventures so my brother will not be bored when he joins us."

Volstagg didn't think Loki looked as enthusiastic at this as Thor, but decided the lad was probably still tired from his trials.

They were still learning to adapt to the newest - and youngest - member of their party. At least, this was Volstagg's excuse as to why everything had gone so horribly awry this latest trip. It had not escaped Volstagg's notice that now when they set out on their adventures, their party now contained both of Asgard's princes. Both of Odin's heirs. Among themselves, Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun had made a solemn pact they would each of them lay their lives down before allowing one of their princes to fall.

Though they hadn't thought they would mislay one of them quite so quickly.

They were visiting a backwater world along the fringes of Yggdrasil in pursuit of a golden phoenix when they came upon a people who worshiped fire demons - of all things - as their gods. Fire demons who apparently lived within a nearby volcano. Which began rumbling and smoking not long after their party arrived in the area.

The local residents had welcomed them at first. Invited them to share a meal. Soon they were all clustered at small, rough tables dotted among four fire pits, drinking and eating while their hosts entertained with dances and singing and stories, all about their fearsome gods.

At first the rumblings of the volcano were taken as a sign by the tribe's elders that the gods were pleased by the visitors. But as the day stretched into night, the rumblings grew more threatening and the ground shook as thicker, darker smoke began to belching out of the volcano. The locals turned on them at once, blaming them for upsetting the fire gods.

They opted to retreat, seeing no great battle - even outnumbered as they were - in defeating a group of wretched, frightened creatures armed with little more than pointed sticks and sharpened rocks.

Somehow in the confusion they lost Loki. But the knot on the back of the prince's head explained how he was subdued quickly enough they hadn't noticed him being downed by the locals. Thor turned them back at once when he realized his brother was gone. It had taken little time to locate where Loki had been taken. And less time to realize what they wanted him for.

"I don't see how throwing you in the volcano would do anything to prevent it from erupting," Volstagg complained.

He could see no way of untying or loosening the ropes. Loki was trussed up too well. Whoever had bound him knew what they were doing. Volstagg grimaced as he brought his axe forth and began sawing carefully at a spot near Loki's elbow. He hoped if he could at least get one of Loki's arms free, then the young prince could then lend aid in freeing himself. If not, Volstagg supposed he could always just pick Loki up and carry him back to his brother.

"They think a sacrifice will pacify their gods," Loki said.

"Even so," Volstagg stopped working at the ropes long enough to give them a good tug. Loki's whole body jerked hard and fell against Volstagg, but his bindings held. Loki shot him a nasty glare. Volstagg offered up a look of chagrin as apology before righting his prince and taking the axe blade back to rope to resume sawing. "I thought their chieftain said only a virgin would suffice?"

"Just untie me!"

 


	2. Odin

The grey wolf scented at the air as it stalked swiftly through the winding underground halls carved from stone where the dwarves made their homes and forges. The wolf had been spotted once already. The blood from the unfortunate guards throats was drying uncomfortably on his maw.

He scented again. Through the heavy smells of metal and forge and dwarf another, fainter, scent carried on the air. Freshly fallen snow deep beneath the planet's surface. He was near now. Not much further.

The magical defences the dwarves laced through their halls to fend off and alert them to intruders prickled at the wolf's fur, teasing it to stand upright at times and giving his skin the feel of a thousand angry ants crawling along him. The unpleasantness of it made trying to cut through the defences from the outside lengthy and wretched. The wolf made the choice earlier not to try, despite objections from a headstrong pup. He would walk though the defences to gain access, this form masking his power. He deemed it faster than trying to rip it apart from the outside and letting the pack attack all at once.

The wolf prowled through the dark twisting halls, the stench of dwarven greed and blood-lust hanging in the air around him. But there was fear here, too. The smell of fear and fresh snow twined around one another, just as they once did so long ago in another foreign land. That was what the old, one-eyed wolf followed. The smell that would lead him to his lost pup.

He hesitated at a bend in the hall. Ahead were voices. More dwarves. The old wolf had already been seen once. He knew the alarm would be raised when those bodies were found. These dwarves spoke without alarm. Boasting of things they should not.

"...never be able to breach our defences," one was saying.

"How I wish I could be present to see their faces when they realize our magicks can repel them," chortled a second.

"Fools they be they think they can simply march into these halls," said a third.

One laughed. "They should think twice given how easily we caught the one who tried to sneak in."

"Think you that arrogant princeling has learned his lesson well, Brokkr?"

"Aye, my brother. If not, there is more than just his mouth I can sew shut."

More laughter.

The grey wolf sprang out and soon there were no more voices. No more laughter. For a moment all the wolf could smell was blood and death. It stoked his appetite for more. But as he gave his head a hard shake and his nose cleared, the old wolf smelled his pup nearby. Smelled his fear. His blood.

He pressed on.

Around another bend there was a door. He knew at once his pup was behind that door. The door was bolted shut and the bite of malicious magicks crackled around the edges. The old wolf growled low as he approached the door, fur rising high along his spine. The magicks snapped at him as he drew near. He snapped back, lips curling as he snarled at the door that dared keep him from his pup.

He threw himself at the door. The sound echoed around him and he waited to listen for the stomping of dwarven feet. There was nothing. He threw himself again. It took six tries before the door surrendered to the wolf's strength. Six tries to force his way into the room. And there, huddled and shivering and chained to a wall, was his pup.

His pup whined when it saw him, eyes wide and fearful. Blood dried on his face too, around where the old wolf saw the threads as black as the pup's fur stitched around his mouth. Another growl, low in his chest, at the sight and the wolf stalked forward. His pup whined again, shrinking away. The smell of fear filled the room.

The grey wolf paused. He barked once, then twice, and wagged his tail. His pup did not look reassured. He reconsidered. The magicks still permeated the air around him, but now that his pup had been found? It was time. Finding the end of the thread buried deep within himself, he gave it a hard mental yank.

In a blast of wind and sound and light, the old wolf's form pulled apart, forging him anew.

Odin blinked as he returned to himself and wasted no time finding his feet. He shrugged his shoulders and stretched his neck, adjusting to the feel of his clothes and armour and his own skin. Loki stared at him with eyes that near swallowed his face. Odin went to him at once.

Loki stared in disbelief and made a pitiful sound in his throat. The chains shackling his wrists to the wall rattled as Loki tried to stand, but they were not long enough to allow it. Gungnir could not cross through the gates of the place it was forged to be used against its makers. Not with the defences still in place. But Odin didn't need his weapon for all things. He broke the chains holding Loki in place with his bare hands.

Odin touched the back of his fingers to Loki's cheek as he bent down to inspect the mess of stitching at his mouth. "Hush, my son," he said. "All is well. I promise you are safe. The one who did this to you already lies dead. The rest will live long enough to rue their actions."

Loki blinked at him. Odin left his fingers brushing Loki's face, hoping to infuse his son with comfort. "The threads are bound tight with magic. I cannot undo them here. We will leave this place. Though," he said, with a twinkle in his eye, "we may have to fight our way free."

Loki nodded his understanding.

"Before we cross through the outer gate, I will set off a blast of seidr powerful enough to collapse the workings there that prevented me from entering as anything other than a wolf wandering in from the wild. Just beyond, your brother and our soldiers await. Once I have Gungnir in hand, I can release you from these binds and heal your injuries.

"And then," Odin said, a wolfish smile crossing his face, "then together we will rout these dwarves out of their hiding places, and teach them a new meaning of what it is to fear. Would you like that?"

He couldn't smile with his mouth stitched shut, but a vicious glean took hold in Loki's eyes and he nodded once more.

"Good." Odin helped his son to his feet, letting him lean against him for the time it took for Loki to steady himself. "It is time to go."

 


	3. Frigga

Frigga paused at the dark, carved doors leading into Loki's bedchamber. She listened for voices and, hearing none, reached out with her magic to confirm what she had already been told. Loki was within. He was alone. And he was in a state of upset. His stress filling the room, almost taking a physical form of its own.

Earlier in the day, Frigga was paid a visit by the woman charged with overseeing all the servants who worked in the royal families' suites. She informed her queen Loki had been sequestered within his bedchamber for three days. Frigga knew it was not unusual for Loki to be lost in one project or another, sometimes disappearing for days on end before emerging from wherever corner of the palace he'd been keeping himself and come to visit with her like no time had passed.

It was an ongoing struggle for her to grant her younger son the privacy and freedom to do as he pleased as was his due. At times, she needed to remind herself Loki was a grown man and didn't need his mother hovering over him as though he was still a babe needing to hang onto her skirts to keep his balance. It went against a mother's instincts to not want to know where her children were and what they were doing at all times. She struggled with it as Thor came of age and gained greater freedom, and, if she was honest, she struggled more so with Loki.

But the concerns came from Loki's own servants. Three days they attended his rooms. Three days he shouted at them from within his bedchamber not to enter when they knocked at the door. Three days they reported his meals were going untouched. And that morning, when again he shouted through closed doors for them not to enter, the servants spoke to the guards who stood watch outside Loki's living quarters. The guards said Loki had not emerged in all that time, and only one visitor had come and gone days earlier. One of the guards even risked Loki's wrath himself by knocking on the bedchamber doors and calling out to ask if he was well. Loki had shouted he was fine and demanded the guard leave his quarters at once.

Troubled, the servants informed their superior, who in turn went to the queen. Frigga then spoke to the guards herself, and received the identity of Loki's visitor. Armed with an inkling of what might be behind her son's odd behaviour, she went to see him.

 _He's fine,_ Frigga reassured herself over and over as she made her way to Loki's quarters. She would know if he wasn't. Even now with her hand in the air poised to knock, she knew with certainty her child was well. Distressed, but not hurt.

She knocked.

"For the last time - I do not wish to be disturbed!" Loki's voice rang out clearly. Authoritative and irritated, a tone he clearly learned from his father.

She knocked again. "Loki? My darling, it's me. May I come in?" She waited.

"Mother," Loki called out in a voice that was trying for composed, as if she wouldn't notice he was trying to hide something from her. "I'm very busy just now. May I visit with you later?"

Her hand was already on the door handle. She hesitated. "Loki, I need to speak to you. Just for a moment. Please come out."

Again she waited for his answer.

"I'm afraid I cannot. I'm...in the middle of something. I apologize. I'll see you later?" He sounded hopeful.

Frigga pressed her lips together, frustration and indecision warring in her mind. Instinct driven by suspicion of his guest told her to open the door. But she was loathe to intrude so blatantly on Loki's privacy. Especially given his refusal.

 _Such a stubborn boy. Stubborn and proud._ Frigga sighed. It was her lot in life to love the three most stubborn and proud - not to mention pig-headed - men Asgard has ever known.

She was a blessed woman.

And she was a mother. "Loki," she called through the door, voice firm. "I know something is wrong. I'm coming in."

"No! Stay out!" Loki cried. Desperate and fearful and something else.

Frigga's hand froze on the handle she'd already started to turn. Her mind raced, trying to decide if it was best to push the door open or retreat.

 _If only Thor were here._ But he was visiting friends on Vanaheim and not expected home for days. She wasn't sure Loki would welcome his intrusion any better than hers, but Thor wouldn't be hesitating at Loki's door like she was.

"Loki," Frigga said gently. "Do you need...sweetheart, would you rather your father came in to see you instead?" She would send for Odin at once, who would no more hesitate at a closed door than his eldest son. And, Frigga accepted, there were times sons needed their fathers over mothers.

"No!" Horror and panic laced Loki's voice, making it sound higher and younger. "No, I don't want anyone to come in here!" Distress seeped through the tightly sealed doors.

 _Enough of this._ "Loki, I'm coming in now." Decision made, Frigga pushed open the door and stepped into the room.

Frigga Allmother had seen much in her years. It was unavoidable. She was queen of the Aesir, married to the Allfather, and mother to two sons as different as night and day. She was involved in every aspect of caring for her sons when they were young. She bathed them, changed them, nursed them through every illness and heartbreak. But this was not enough to prepare her for what she saw.

Her youngest son, her darling clever boy, naked as the day he entered the world and tied to his bed. Loki stared at her in despair for a long moment before squeezing his eyes shut, but not before emitted a soft moan of despair. Even so she kept the shock off her face, keeping her features smooth and without judgement as she approached his bedside.

The closer she got, two things became apparent. First, was the smell. Urine and waste as Loki was forced to lie in his own filth. Second, was the magic threading through the thin ropes that held him to the bed posts. His wrists were laced together and pulled over his head. Legs secured with the same ropes tied at each ankle. Wrists and ankles bruised and bloodied from days worth of attempts to get free. But the magic of the bindings could not be overcome, not matter how much he fought them, for it was cast by someone more powerful than he.

_That vicious, vindictive wretch!_

Fury burned through Frigga's veins. For a moment she could not see for her fury. When the haze cleared, Frigga lifted her hands to tear apart the casting and then pull away the now ordinary ropes holding Loki in the middle of his bed. With another push of magic she cleaned away the mess around him, freshening both his bedding and him.

When she took hold of one of his ankles to heal the wounds caused by trying to free himself, Loki snapped back to himself. He pulled his foot out of her hands and rolled away. Then he was on his feet, on the opposite side of the bed from her, with a hastily snatched up blanket wrapped around him.

"Thank you for freeing me." He spoke stiffly, not quite looking at her. "I...I had a little disagreement with someone. Things went awry." He laughed without mirth.

"Loki..."

"If you do not mind, Mother," he said, unfailingly polite even as he tried to dismiss her. "I would like to bathe now. If you'll excuse me." _And we'll never speak of this again,_ going unsaid.

Frigga did not move. "Disagreement or no, this is not an acceptable way to treat one who welcomed a person into their home. Especially given that the host is a prince of the realm."

Loki flinched. Frigga realized too late her anger had seeped into her voice.

"This is not your fault," she said more gently.

Loki didn't look at her. "You don't know that."

"Oh? Don't I?"

"I may have been, somewhat, less than a polite host to my guest."

"Hmm. Invited her to tie you up, did you?" Loki hunched further into himself and Frigga wanted to slap herself for the thoughtless misstep.

 _Well, I've always said I wanted to know what goes on in his life. I'm certainly learning more today. Even if his choice of bed partner leaves much to be desired._ "Even if you did, you certainly didn't ask to be left helpless for days. Unable to free yourself," she hurried to add.

Loki's mouth twisted into an unrecognizable smile. "Only because I refused to call out and ask for aid. I had no wish to humiliate myself further." The bitterness in his laugh was like a stab in a mother's heart. "Look how well that worked out."

"There is no shame is asking for help when you need it, Loki. Your father or I would have come at once to free you. You know that."

"Please don't tell him about this."

"Loki..."

"Please."

Frigga pressed her lips together tightly. She was loathe to keep things from her husband. _What's one more secret kept in this family?_ "Very well. But I hope you know your father would understand. He would not judge you in any way. You've done nothing wrong." She was adamant.

Loki finally met her eyes, clearly not believing her. "You are kind to say so, Mother. But I think Father would have plenty to say about this." He jerked his chin at the ropes still on the bed. "And about the kind of man who would engage in such practices."

"He would understand," she insisted. He still didn't believe her. Frigga changed tactics. "No? You think your father ignorant of such things? You're wrong. I know this with first-hand certainty." She picked up one of the ropes and pulled through her hands. "Your father used to be more adventurous, you know," she said an impish smile. "In fact, when he and I were much younger, we often..."

_"Mother!"_

Shame and resentful embarrassment gave way to the predictable horror of a child confronted with more knowledge than they ever wanted of their parents.

Frigga shrugged, still smiling. "Oh well, it was long ago. But my point stands."

Loki blinked rapidly before he laughed. A genuine laugh. Relief flooded Frigga's heart.

"Now, I believe you said something about having a nice bath? I'll send the servants in with some food, and tend to the room."

"No," Loki said quickly. "I'll take care of this." He waved at the bed without looking at it.

That raised her eyebrows. She wasn’t sure Loki knew how to change his own bed. The bedding was clean now, but still should be changed out. Loki gave her a pleading look and she relented.

"Very well. Enjoy your bath and meal. Get some proper rest. And Loki," she gestured at his visible wrists. "Do not neglect those."

He nodded. "I won't. I'll make use of a healing stone."

Frigga gave him smile as full as love and warmth as she could muster. "Will you come visit me after you've rested?"

"Of course," Loki said, with a smile of his own. "I would never pass up a chance to spend time in your charming company."

"Shameless flatterer."  

Frigga departed her son's rooms, satisfied he was well, though she was under no illusions about his pride being intact. Her own anger returned over what she found and the person who was responsible for it. Disagreement or not, it was deplorable behaviour to betray another's trust in such a manner. Not to mention the distasteful misuse of magic. Loki would undoubtedly seek revenge on his bed partner as payback for the humiliation.

But not before a certain Enchantress received a visit from her queen.

 


	4. Sif

Sif moved along the rocky passageway, cautious but swift. She was not alone in these passages, but they had split apart to search them after seeing the extent of their vastness. She hadn't seen another soul in hours. Their party had caught up with the fools whom Heimdall saw ambush Loki while visiting Alfheim early that day. They turned out to be agitators that were part of a growing faction on Alfheim who took a dim view of Asgard, and an even dimmer view of one of Asgard's princes visiting freely within their borders.

It had not taken Thor long to beat his brother's location out of them.

His location, but not his fate.

Loki had been missing for five days. Five days since Heimdall saw him attacked before dark magic shrouded Loki from his view. Five days since the king sent out a rescue party, led by Thor, to Alfheim to find their missing prince. Somewhere within the hidden passages and caverns, in the cliffsides that lined this isolated valley, was Loki.

They began their search by spreading out along the valley floor, calling Loki's name. There was no answer. No one dared voice aloud one of the reasons why Loki didn't answer, not when Thor wore his own fear so plain for all to see.

The passage Sif moved through was dark and damp, but few were like that. Long ago, before Alfheim rose as one of the great civilizations of the higher realms, some tribes of ancient elves lived in places like these. They found clever ways to cut narrow holes through the rock to let in air and light. Though the air was stale and musty, it was not foul to breathe. Sif paused in her steps when she spied a dim light further ahead. A better lit passage would be welcome. She moved toward it and soon found not another passage, but a massive chamber carved out from the surrounding rock.

And Loki was within.

Sif froze. Loki was bound atop a flat slab of rock in the centre of the chamber and tied with chains thicker than her arms - thicker than Thor's arms. Sif shook off her shock and hurried across the cavernous space, eyes travelling over him as she drew closer, searching for weak spots in the chain to strike. When Sif was almost in reach of him, she saw he was tied in place with not just chains.

In the breath of a single moment Sif saw that Loki was bleeding from what looked like a great wound to his guts. In another moment she understood what else was tying him to the rock. Nausea swept through her and she feared she would vomit as bile gathered in the back of her throat.

As she swayed with horror, Loki cried out in pain. Sif's horror gave way to white-hot rage and she stormed across the level ground to his side.

"I found him!" she cried out. "Here, we're here!" Her own voice echoed back at her. Sif didn't hear any voices calling out in answer. She yelled louder. "Help! We're in here!"

She reached Loki and stood near his head. He moaned in pain and turned his head toward her. Almost half his face was gone. Sif's bile returned at the sight. Looking up, Sif spied the source at once and she cursed herself for not seeing it at first.

Loki had not been left in this chamber alone.

A large serpent was suspended high above the slab where Loki lay helpless. Sif recognized the species, though she'd never seen one up close before, nor had she wanted to. Its poisonous venom burned though flesh causing unspeakable agony that left its victims begging for death. The elves used it in ancient times to torture enemies.

It was bound high overhead and unable to move except to drip its venom down upon its victim. The creature was huge. From her angle on the ground it was difficult to gauge its length, but even its head was easily as large as hers. She couldn't imagine how anyone managed to get the thing up to the cavern ceiling to tie it in place without dying themselves. It was said a single bite from this snake was enough to kill a grown man ten times over.

The locals once used it for executions, too.

_They must have rendered it senseless to get it up there._

Sif looked around the chamber for a basin of some kind, but as Loki screamed again in pain, she instead flipped over her shield and thrust it up to hold over his face. A shield forged in Asgard was immune to all poisons, even the ones capable of burning holes through their victims. But a shield was not a bowl and it's shallow depression would not hold much. She tilted it a bit so any venom would slide down and drip off the edge of the shield and onto the ground.

She cast a look back at the entrance to the chamber hoping to see one of her companions rushing to their aid. No one was there. She heard no voices, no thundering footsteps.

_Where are they?_

"I need help! Thor - we're here. I found Loki! Thor!"

Loki laughed, making little sound. "Did you hear me before you entered the room?" His rasping voice barely sounded like him at all. "I have been screaming for days, Sif. They call these the _voiceless tombs_ for a reason, you know."

She did not know. Sif looked down at him though it twisted her stomach to do so. The gash across his belly gaped open, unable to heal itself with his innards pulled out, and oozed blood with his every breath. There was so much of Loki's blood on the floor, Sif couldn't avoid stepping in it. She had no idea how they were going to free him from his own entrails wrapped around him, even after they cut loose the chains. They would have to send back for healers.

Then there was his face. And that was more of a horror. The poison had burned away his skin and hair entirely in numerous places. When he saw her eyes on him, he tried to smile and she could see his teeth though gaps in his cheek. She could see bone along the side of his face and jaw. It looked like he'd been trying to keep only one side of his face exposed to the creature and mostly succeeded. His ear was almost gone. There were areas that looked partially healed, while others were open wounds. Loki kept one eye tightly closed, but there were still burns and gaps in the skin there as well. She couldn't see what, if anything, remained of his actual eye.

 _Same eye as the Allfather,_ she thought with a lightheaded absurdity. _They would look alike._ She clamped down on the foolish urge to giggle. _No, you may not become hysterical. Breathe and think._

"How are you still alive?" she demanded, though she did not mean it to sound as accusatory as it did.

Another near soundless laugh. "I live a charmed existence."

She snorted in response. Sif checked behind her again, hoping to see Thor's reassuring bulk filling the entrance to the chamber. There was no one. Loki needed help, but she couldn't leave him to get it. Not with poison raining down on him from a serpent's jaws.

There was a sizzle and her attention was drawn back to the shield. A drop had landed on the leather binding wrapped around the hand grip. Sif watched with wide eyes as a hole burned clear through it in mere seconds.

Her eyes dragged back up to the serpent. It hissed at her, displeased with its treatment.

_You're not the only one._

Not taking her eyes off the creature, she spoke. "What will happen if I cut off its head?"

"It'll die, I imagine," Loki croaked.

"That's it? It won't trigger something worse?"

"Define worse."

"I don't know - the chamber collapsing in on us perhaps? That would be worse."

"Heh. That depends on your point of view at present."

She shot him an apologetic look and made her choice. "Let us see."

Keeping careful control over her shield, making sure it covered Loki's head at all times, Sif slowly climbed the slab Loki was bound to. Her foot slipped once and she nearly toppled off, but she was able to slap one hand down on Loki's shoulder to catch her balance. She didn't let go of her shield. It was an awkward climb, and there was nowhere for her to brace her feet properly when she finally made the ascent.

"You're standing on my hair!" Loki gritted out between clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry!" Sif tried to shuffle her foot enough to push the hair on the unburnt side of his head out of the way. His hiss of pain told her she hadn't succeeded. "I am sorry," she said again, "but do you want to be free or not?"

The disgruntled noise he made was answer enough for her. Sif changed her grip on the shield enough so she could hold it steady while she drew her sword. As she did so, another drip of venom struck the shield. Another sizzle and a mark left behind on the metal. Then another. And another.

Loki had been trapped here for days. Tied with his own guts. Face burning away bit by bit. Screaming for help that none could hear.

Sif raised her sword.

 


	5. Thor

"This is all your fault!" Loki seethed.

" _My_ fault?" Thor said incredulously. "You're blaming me?"

"I'm certainly not the one who bedded a giant's wife."

"Well, I'm not the one who told the giant I bedded his wife."

Loki made a noise uncannily like an aborted mating cry of a bilgesnipe. "I _beg_ your pardon, I did no such thing!"

"Yes, you did."

"No, I did not."

"Yes, you did!"

"No, I didn't!"

"Who told him then?"

Loki scoffed. "Have you considered _his wife_?"

Thor remained silent. He hadn't considered it, but he had no intention of admitting it out loud.

Loki's answering snort was far more smug than the circumstances called for.

Of course, the circumstances didn't exactly call for the two sons of Odin to be tied back to back with chains thick and heavy enough to hold the giants that used them to bind the brothers together.

It was an undignified end to their visit with the great mountain giants of Vanaheim. They had been hunting near the giants territory when they came upon a pair of hunters besieged by a pack of direwolves doing some hunting of their own. Thor had rushed to the giants aid, followed by his brother and their friends. Once their two groups came together, the wolves decided their intended prey was too much trouble and retreated. Grateful for their help, the giants invited them back to their settlement to join them for a meal. Thor had accepted, curious to see their homes and learn more about them. Notoriously reclusive, neither Thor nor any of his friends, even Hogun, had ever seen much of the mountain giants, much less had a chance to see within their walls. Even Loki was eager to go.

Like the giants themselves, their mountain fortress was massive. The walls surrounding it thicker than Thor was tall. Though most of the giants they encountered were aloof, there were a few who were friendly, as curious about their visitors as they were of the giants. It turned out the giants they'd aided, Perh and Haiu, were the sons of the fortress' lord. Their father, Hofeal, greeted them with great hospitality and soon Thor, Loki, Sif, and the Warriors Three were seated in a great hall that dwarfed Odin's throne room. There was food, drink, singing, dancing, stories.

And a comely giant seated to Thor's right named Nule. Thor drank, ate, and flirted the night away with this great giant with burnished red hair, who seemed alternatively amused by him and perfectly willing to snap him in half at the slightest insult.

Thor always did love a challenge.

One thing led to another and before long, Thor and Nule had departed the hall to find the nearest bed. Returning to the hall more than an hour later, Thor had thumped smugly back in his chair, flashing a triumphant smile at Loki still seated at his left. Loki rolled his eyes at him and resumed ignoring him in favour of peppering the giants seated closest to him with as many questions as they were willing to answer.

The first sign things were going sideways was when Loki left the hall in the company of three  giants. Loki said something about them taking him to see a library or something, Thor wasn't really listening. But he did notice when Loki didn't come back.

"Perhaps he has fallen face-first into one of their book stacks and refuses to come out," Fandral laughed when Thor made note of it.

Before Thor had the chance to wonder if he should go in search of his brother, another giant materialized at Thor's shoulder. They had been introduced earlier, but Thor couldn't recall his name. One of his host's brothers, he thought. The giant told Thor Loki was asking for him, insisting it was important. Thor went, curious what had taken hold of Loki's attention.

The giant led him through numerous halls, taking him further and further away from the hall his friends were still seated. Thor was unconcerned. He had Mjolnir. And none would dare attack a son of Odin.

Turned out he was wrong about that.

The giant led Thor into a dimly lit alcove where another giant was waiting, holding Loki still by his hair, with a wicked looking dagger pressed against his little brother's throat. Thor had Mjolnir in hand in a heartbeat.

The giant holding Loki smiled.  "I wonder, Thunderer. Can you throw faster than I can slit your brother's throat?"

Loki watched Thor with wide eyes, silent, but clearly communicating his intent to kill some giants before this was over.

Thor nodded his own agreement as he set Mjolnir down.

Then their host, Hofeal, materialized from the shadows to level sordid accusations at Thor along with a sworn promise of appropriate vengeance. Loki's eyes communicated an altogether different message at that point, one that was not especially complimentary to his older brother and future king.

Thor and Loki were herded into a nearby room, this one overlarge and well-lit, hot and fragrant. It was clearly a kitchen. Loki was no more enthused about being forced to the floor and trussed up beside one of the giant ovens than Thor was.

Loki had been letting Thor know the full force of his displeasure ever since.

"It's not as though I meant to offend our host on purpose," Thor said. "She arrived after the feast began. No one said who she was, nor did say she was married."

"Did you bother to ask? Would you have cared?"

"That is offensive!"

"Only because we both know the answer!"

"You're just jealous because she found my company pleasing."

Loki made another trumpeting bilgesnipe noise. "How can you possibly be this dull? She was using you, Thor. Her husband means to set her aside so he can marry another. By bedding you, a foreigner no less, she leaves Hofeal no choice but to act in defence of his marriage lest he look weak. After he's finished with you, he'll stand before his people to ask her forgiveness for neglecting her to the point she sought the arms of another and then ask for the blessing of her family for the continuation of their union. Which he'll get, only after her family gains concessions that will greatly strengthen their own power and standing."

Thor was temporarily speechless. "How could you possibly know this?"

He couldn't see Loki, but his brother's smugness radiated around them. "People talk, Thor. I listen. You might try it. You'd be amazed at what you can learn."  

Thor brooded over what Loki had said. As pleasurable Nule's company had been, Thor didn't like being used. He liked being punished for it even less. Speaking of...

"In all your listening, did you happen to learn what Hofeal intends?"

Loki hesitated. "Yes."

Thor waited. And waited. Loki remained suspiciously silent. "Well?" he prompted.

"You're not going to like it."

Thor snorted. "I don't like it already."

Loki shifted. "Their tradition dictates that he, um, cuts off the manhood of the offender, and then..." Loki's voice lowered to a mumble.

Thor felt faint. "What?"

"You heard me."

"Cuts it off...and then what?"

Loki went silent again.

"Loki!"

"Does it really matter?"

"Yes!"

A sigh. "Cuts it off, cooks it in a stew, and eats it."

" _What?!_ "

Another sigh. "Why do you think they brought us to the kitchen and sat us next to the stew pot?"

Thor couldn't help but look at the oven they'd been seated next to. It was an open oven that dominated the wall. And seated deep within it was a huge, black pot. Thor couldn't see the contents, but it smelled good. Then Loki's words floated back through his head and Thor's stomach rolled.

Thor had ceased fighting to free himself from the chains to better concentrate on arguing with his brother. He renewed his struggle now, flexing his muscle and straining to push his arms away from his body in the hopes of breaking the chains.

"What are you doing now?" Loki complained. "You sound a constipated bull."

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm trying break loose," Thor shot back. "You could help!"

"I wouldn't bother. These chains have been enchanted with unnatural strength. Not even you could break them by force."

"Well then, use your magic to free us," Thor said, still trying to burst free.

"How?" Loki said in a snotty tone he used whenever talking about something he knew Thor didn't understand. "I can't so much as move a finger. What do you want me to do, Thor - say some magic words?"

"Use your doubles."

" _How?_ And to do what, exactly? Roam the halls, make the giants think I've escaped?"

"That would be a start."

"Brilliant, Thor. And what happens when they come running to see if you've escaped, too, and see I'm still here and realize I tried to trick them? No one's putting my manhood in a pot. Asgard needs at least one of us to sire offspring."

"No one's putting mine in a pot either!" Thor roared.

"That's it, Brother. Keep your spirits up. It does no good to lose hope."

When they were free - and Thor's manhood safe and intact - he was going to pick up his little brother, flip him upside-down, and dunk his head in a fountain. Repeatedly.

"What good is your magic if you can't use it when we need it?" Thor snapped.

"Oh, excuse me," Loki's voice dripped with sarcasm. "But am I the one who announced to a room full of giants we'd only just met that my brother was a mage? One capable of great feats of magic?"

"I was trying to pay you a compliment!"

"Well, thank you very much, Thor," Loki said. "One of the first things they did when they ambushed me was threaten to cut off my hands if I so much as twitched a finger. I can see you still have use of your hands, but mine are pressed against my chest and encased in chains at the moment."

Thor turned his head as much as he could from one side to the next. He could see his own hands on the floor pressed next to his thighs. He couldn't see Loki's. "I didn't realize they'd done so."

Loki huffed.

Thor sighed. "I'm sorry, all right? I didn't mean for this to happen."

"What a surprise."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

"No, you have a complaint to make. Make it."

"This is hardly the time," Loki sniffed.

Thor jerked on his chains again. "It doesn't appear I'm going anywhere soon."

"Whose fault is that?"

"I said I was sorry! Now are you going to help me think of a way to get free or would you rather just sit there and bitch?"

"I _beg_ your pardon?"

"You heard me."

"You utter imbecile! You get us into this and then you have the gall to accuse me of complaining?"

"If the bitching fits..."

Loki squawked indignantly. "How dare you!"

"How dare I?" Thor shot back. "I'm the one who's to be made cock-less by night's end."

"And again - _who's fault is that_?"

"If I didn't know better, Brother, I would think you were enjoying this."

"Oh? Am I? Well, let me tell you what I truly think, Thor..."

Just then Fandral popped his head through the kitchen's open doorway. "See? I told you. I'd recognized that bickering anywhere."

Hogun appeared at Fandral's side. "Dare we ask?"

"Get us loose!" Loki demanded at the same time Thor yelled, "It was the giants, help us!"

Hogun and Fandral exchanged a bemused look before stepping into the kitchen.

"What happened?" Fandral wanted to know as he bent over to examine the chains.

"Ask Thor," Loki said.

Thor tried to turn his head around enough to glare at his brother. He only succeeded in hurting his neck. "How did you know we were in peril?" he asked his friends.

"We didn't," Hogun said.

Fandral shrugged. "Needed to take a piss. Can't find so much as a chamber pot anywhere in this place, even with directions."

"The layout is confusing," Hogun agreed.

"Then heard the two of you arguing and here we are. I take it we're going to need to leave in a hurry?" Fandral had both hands on the chains, trying to pull the links apart. Nothing happened.

"Yes!" Loki snapped.

"But not before we address some grievances," Thor added. "Can you find a way to take these off?"

Fandral and Hogun exchanged another look. "We may be in need of help," Fandral conceded.

Hogun headed for the door. "I'll be back with Sif and Volstagg."

Fandral gave the chains another pull before giving up and backing off. "I'm sure between the four of us we'll get you free." He clapped his hands together and looked back and forth between them. "So - what brought all this about?"

Neither brother said a word.

 


	6. Thanos

Reality came back to Loki in pieces.

He was falling. Then he wasn't.

He wasn't screaming. Then he was.

He begged. He stopped. Then started again.

He couldn't breathe. Then wished he couldn't.

Everything quiet. Then chittering all around him.

Nothing hurt.

Then everything hurt.

"Wake up, little creature."

Loki didn't want to open his eyes. He did.

That was a mistake.

He couldn't move. Could barely draw breath. Every inch of his being, inside and out, felt on fire.

"Now where, I wonder, did you come from?"

His lips were frozen. A contrast to the burning everywhere else. Tongue so swollen he feared it would choke him if he tried to speak.

"Answer me." It wasn't a request.

A scream scrambled up Loki's throat, getting stuck before he uttered a sound. Agony raced though every muscle, every bone. When it faded, and he was back to merely feeling aflame, he sighed in relief. He still couldn't move. Not even to blink.

Loki tried to move his lips, work his tongue. Tried to remember sounds, words.

There was a snort of amusement far above his head. Loki's tongue tingled, the swelling dissipating all at once.

"Now speak."

He tried again. "As...Asgard." The word felt strange. Foreign. Like it didn't belong.

Like he didn't belong.

He didn't. Belong. Not any more.

"Asgard." The voice changed. Amusement falling away. "Interesting. Your name?"

It took him a couple tries. "Loki. I am. Loki. Of Asgard."

He wasn't. He remembered. He never was.

"Tell me Loki of Asgard, who rules the Realm Eternal in this age?"

"I do," Loki said. But that wasn't right. "I did. I...I tried. I swear I did." His voice faltered as his throat closed up. He swallowed over and over trying to clear it. It felt like swallowing broken glass shards. Hot tears stung his eyes. He couldn't blink them away.

"Who rules Asgard now?" the voice went low, demanding.

"Odin. Allfather." _My father_ , Loki wanted to say. But he wasn't. The tears threatened to escape.

Another strangled scream as Loki was dragged upright. Still bound by things unseen he was floated in front of a throne carved from rock. Dangled like a beast caught in a snare before the huge being seated upon it, unable to even struggle to free himself. The being looked down at him.

"Well, Loki of Asgard. There is only one question remaining - what use can you be of to me?"

He wanted to die. But he didn't.

Now he couldn't.

  


END.

  


  


 


End file.
